


A Branch of Yew

by Seraxa Reborn (WierdAlienFantasies)



Series: 100 Fandom Challenge [1]
Category: The Elementalists (Visual Novel)
Genre: F!Altas, F!MC, F/F, Hopeful Ending, Slight Canon Divergence, Special cameo of Choices universe characters, Wood Nymph anatomy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-02-03
Packaged: 2019-10-21 07:35:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17638529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WierdAlienFantasies/pseuds/Seraxa%20Reborn
Summary: [070 Settle]Aster always knew she was going to settle and put roots down someday. She just never expected it to happen like this.Features a special Choices Universe Cameo!





	A Branch of Yew

Thinking back, Aster realises she never really understood just how different attuned and wood nymphs are. It goes beyond wielding different magick, beyond different appearances. It was easy to forget, especially with how welcomed Eli and the Penderpals had made her feel, but they were different species. Their biology, their very _genes_ were different.

It would have mattered little (at least for 30 or so years, after which their very different ageing processes would have become apparent). It _should_ have mattered little. As it was, Raife’s attack had changed everything. He had fought with every magick at his disposal, desperate to claim the power of Eli and Atlas and use it to control the magickal world. The Penderpals had stood resolute against him, and Aster had stood alongside them.

It hadn’t even been a conscious decision. She had simply seen them there, auras glowing with power. The calming strength of Griffin’s deep brown, the crackling passion of Shreya’s deep orange, the carefree joy of Zephyr’s baby blue and the gleaming brilliance of Beckett’s grey had blended together. Even their brightness appeared muted compared to the blinding twin lights of Eli and Atlas, sunlight and moonlight pulsing with love and a desire to protect the people they’d come to care so much for.

Aster had known instantly that she had to join them. It just felt right, like nothing in her life had ever felt before. So she’d added her power to theirs, an aura of gentle leaf-green completing the rainbow, and as one they’d launched forward. For a moment, everything was perfect.

And then everything

fell

apart.

...

They defeated Raife and saved the world. It’s some consolation, Aster supposes, but it rings hollow. The battle had left them all broken and bleeding and drained near dry of magick. She couldn’t feel her forest, couldn’t feel her _family_ , like she once could (she still can’t, even now). Other than that she had been relatively unscathed. The sap that runs through her body, being so different from attuned blood, had been immune to Raife’s blood magick. The others had not been so lucky. With his dying breath, Raife had cast a final spell.

At first, nobody had known what it was. It was only as they turned to one another to try and address their injuries that it had become apparent. Raife had cursed their wounds, preventing the blood flow from being stemmed. He’d condemned them all. Once they had realised this, everything had all happened too fast. Aster had desperately tried to call on her healing magick, but it was gone with the rest of her abilities. Atlas, who had taken a mirror shard to her stomach during the fight, slipped away first.

As Eli clutched her close, she had fought to whisper a final message. It had been the first time Aster had seen an attuned die. It had been so unlike all the wood nymph deaths she had observed, which were always a peaceful fading to become one with nature. No, Atlas’s death had been full of blood and pain and desperate struggles. She had heaved out one last rattling breath, then gone still. An awful silence had descended, so thick Aster felt like she was suffocating.

Then the silence had been shattered by a thump as Zephyr hit the floor. Aster had raced to his side, desperately tried to stem the crimson tide rushing forth from all his wounds. No matter what she did, he had kept on bleeding. Her skin had slowly changed, from green to sickly brown to deep scarlet. She still refused to stop trying. This was Zephyr, sweet and kind, always there with a quip and compliment. Everyone’s friend. She loved it when he visited her store, he had always been polite and happy to just talk. She couldn’t fail him, not now when he needed her.

A feeling of warmth brushing against her shoulder had interrupted her panic. She had turned to see Zephyr’s hand resting there. He’d been watching her face, a small smile on his face. He had opened his mouth to speak, briefly fighting back a grimace of pain.

“Hey… hey Aster… don’t be sad. We did it. We… we won…”

With that he had gone still, eyes staring unseeing ahead. Aster had continued to attempt to apply pressure to his wounds, unable to accept that he was gone. She had only been torn away by a broken sob. She had turned to see Eli, still clutching Altas against her chest, staring in horror at Beckett. Beckett, who was holding the bodies of Shreya and Griffin, who was the one responsible for the broken sobs. Aster had made a move to comfort him, or maybe simply share in his grief, when with a shudder he collapsed forward.

“No.”

Aster had torn her eyes away from the bodies to stare at Eli, watching as she shook her head.

“No… no… no no no…”

Aster’s heart, already torn to pieces, had frozen. _Please, great spirit. Not her too. Please, not Eli too._ She had half ran, half stumbled over to the only living attuned left. Gently she’d pulled her close, desperately hoping if she held her tight enough she’d be safe.

“Aster… Aster they’re all… I don’t want to…”

“Shhh, you’re going to be fine you hear me?”

Aster had ignored the way her own voice wavered like a young sapling in a storm. Feeling Eli’s arms encircle her waste, she’d pulled her even closer.

“I’m not letting you go. You have to hold on, Eli. Please hold on…”

Eli had spoken, her voice barely a whisper as she fought to get each word out.

“Aster… Aster, I lo-”

Aster had ignored the silence that followed, focusing on the warmth that still clung to Eli.

“I know, Eli, I know. Me too.”

Then, at last, her tears had started to fall. That is how the professors had found her, two hours later when they finally breached the wards Raife had cast to keep them out, covered in the blood of her friends and still clutching the body of Eli.

…

Aster looks down at the five slabs of granite before her. There is a certain beauty to them, but she can’t see it. All she can see are five faces, far too pale and still. Slowly she passes each headstone. She comes to a halt before the one inscribed with an engraving of a shining sun. _Eli. Beloved daughter, sister and friend. She shone a light into the lives of all she met._ Aster stands there, staring at the dirt covering the body of the only person who truly believed in her. The only person who had encouraged her dreams and embraced her differences as beautiful. The only person she had loved, loved with all of her heart in a way that was at once soothing and terrifying, the simplest thing and too complex for words.

Kneeling down, Aster surrenders to her all-encompassing grief. She sets down her roots, decades earlier than she should, and lets go of her mobile, humanoid form. Her skin cracks, great furrows splitting her flesh, then hardens. Her arms lengthen then split into a winding mass of branches. She gives one last, shuddering sigh, then her face too gives way to bark, merging with her new trunk until what were once her features become nothing more than burls and scars.

Her consciousness settles in her new form for a moment, then she focuses all her attention on her roots. Slowly she grows them down until she finds first one, then five wooden structures. With painstaking care she surrounds the structures, taking them within her roots to shield them. She does not damage the boxes, taking great pains not to absorb a single molecule from the bodies within. She fortifies her roots, protecting the bodies of her friends in the only way she can. As the sole survivor, it is her duty to guard the others until her sentience slips away with age.

Before, Aster never felt time drag. Each second was a gift, each experience a beautiful new memory to treasure. Now, she wishes she had had the chance to learn attuned magick so that she could speed up the passage of time. Seasons blend together into a kaleidoscope of confusion. If it wasn’t for her vital role as sentinel over the remains entombed within her roots, she would have given up long ago. But she will not give up. She will endure for as long as she can, for eternity if she has to, to keep what is left of her friends safe.

...

_**10 years later** _

Two young attuneless girls race through the forest, laughing together. One, a whistle tied around her neck, catches sight of something in the distance. As if drawn by some invisible force, she abruptly changes direction and races off. The other girl, noticing her friend is no longer with her, stops.

“Jane? Jane, where did you go?”

For a second her only reply is the stifling silence of the forest. And then, slightly muffled, another voice rings out.

“Over here Devon! Come see what I’ve found!”

Devon eagerly races off in the direction of Jane’s voice, keen to see what she’s found. Suddenly the trees give way to a glade. Sunlight gives everything a golden glow, including Jane’s fiery hair. Jane is standing in the centre of the glade, staring at a tree. The tree, alongside five mossy lumps, is the only thing in the glade. Devon bounces over to Jane, a goofy smile on her face.

“Jane! This place is so cool! How did you find it!”

Jane is staring intently at the tree, a confused look on her face. She turns to face Devon, her brows knitting together.

“I… I don’t know. I just… did I guess.”

Devon seems oblivious to Jane’s unease, bounding forward to investigate the nearest mossy lump.

“Well, I’m glad you did find it. We should bring the others here too! We could climb that tree, or roll in the grass or… I know! We could hide behind these mossy things and jump out and scare them!”

Devon pats the nearest one, then withdraws her hand in shock. Slowly, cautiously she extends her hand out again, tentatively feeling the structure. Growing more confident, she starts to peel away the moss, calling out to Jane.

“Jane, come look! There’s something underneath here!”

Jane hurries over, helping Devon scrabble away at the moss. Soon a shining slab of granite is revealed. Jane squints at it.

“Devon… I think there’s words on it! I can’t quite make them out…”

Devon leans closer, tracing the faded carving slowly.

“G… Gri… Griffin? Griffin Langley… hard-working… and loyal… to the end… may he… finally… find rest…”

She turns to face Jane, her expression a mask of horror.

“Jane… Jane I think this is a tombstone. We’re standing on graves…”

Somewhere off into the forest, a twig snaps and a bird caws out. Devon jumps, and Jane starts to cry. Devon moves close, putting an arm around Jane. She wants to reassure her, but can’t stop herself from shaking and so can’t even get the words out. Slowly, a branch from the tree in the centre of the clearing furls itself around both girls. It presses against them in a gentle embrace, soothingly rubbing their back. Devon brightens up, reaching out in awe to touch the branch.

“See, look Jane! The tree’s giving us a hug. She’ll keep us safe.”

Jane sniffles, but manages a weak smile. She too reaches out to stroke the tree, whose leaves seem to curl in happiness at the touch. As she continues to touch it, a thought strikes her. Turning to face Devon, she asks.

“How… how do you know she’s a she?”

Devon pauses, for a moment, brow furrowing in confusion.

“I don’t know… I just… I just got a feeling…”

Devon stares into the distance for a moment, before shaking her head and grinning at Jane. Jane returns the grin. Catching sight of the sun, no longer dead ahead, she frets.

“We should go, or our friends will get worried.”

“Yeah, okay. Race you back!”

Devon launches off, laughing as she dashes out of the clearing. Jane takes off after her, stopping to look back as she reaches the edge of the clearing. A solemn look on her face, she addresses the tree.

“Thank you Mrs Tree.”

With that she is gone, and the glade is silent once more. Despite the lack of a breeze, for a moment there is the soft sound of rustling leaves. If listened to a certain way, it almost sounds like gentle laughter.

**Author's Note:**

> Title comes from the old custom of planting Yew trees in graveyards. I apologise for breaking anyone's hearts. I really love Aster, and was shocked to see no MC/Aster fics out there so set out to fix that. What started out as a cute little fluffy piece turned into this... but at least there was cute ILITW MC and Jane at the end right?


End file.
